Untitled
Artist
Bruce Davidson (American, born 1933)American, born 1933
CultureAmerican
Titles
- Untitled
- from the series Brooklyn Gang
Date1959
Place depictedNew York, New York, United States
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 22 7/8 × 15 3/8 in. (58.1 × 39 cm)
Sheet: 23 7/8 × 19 13/16 in. (60.7 × 50.4 cm)
Sheet: 23 7/8 × 19 13/16 in. (60.7 × 50.4 cm)
Credit LineGift of an anonymous donor
Object number2023.739
Not on view
Explore Further
Department
PhotographyObject Type
By the standards of today’s gang violence, the scenes that 25-year-old Bruce Davidson recorded in his first major body of work, Brooklyn Gang, might seem quaint—teenage boys with slicked-back hair pretending to be Marlon Brando. Here, Lefty shows off the new skunk tattoo he and his friend Bengie each got at Mike’s Tattoo Shop on Coney Island. “He was a pretty tough guy in the gang and then he went to jail for about a year,” recalls Bengie. “He came out and he just lost it. He wasn’t the same guy. He ate a lot of pills one night and never woke up.” He was 19.
ProvenanceThe artist; [The Feldschuh Gallery, New York]; Private collection; given to MFAH, 2023.
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
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